Last call for voter registrations

People are being urged to register to vote in the general election ahead of the deadline at midnight tonight.

Anyone who submits an application after the cut-off today will not be able to vote.

According to the Electoral Commission, there have been more than 1.7m applications to register in the past five weeks, with almost 470,000 online applications from 16 to 24-year-olds.

But it suggests there may still be 7.5m unregistered voters. Celebrities and politicians have attempted to get people signed up. Satirist Armando Iannucci, who created the political sitcom The Thick Of It, held a Twitter forum yesterday to answer questions about why people should vote.

Jenny Watson, Electoral Commission chairwoman, said: “This is your last chance to register to vote if you want to make your voice heard on May 7.”

Polling suggests as many as 44 per cent of those not registered believe, mistakenly, that they are.

Voter turnout nudged up to 65.1 per cent in 2010 but was still the third-lowest since the introduction of universal suffrage .

In order to register, visit www.gov.uk/registertovote , or return a paper application in person to your local council headquarters before the deadline.